Category: Review

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Hojicha Co.’s Hojicha Gold Roast

Hojicha Gold Roast by Hojicha Co.
Green Tea / Straight
$24.00CAD for 80g

Hojicha Co. has provided me with Hojicha Gold Roast for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Hojicha Co. specializes in (surprise!) hojicha – if you ever wanted to learn about hojicha production, preparation, or recipes, their website is pretty informative! But let’s talk about Hojicha Gold Roast, which Hojicha Co. was very kind to send to me to try. It came in a kraft paper pouch that’s plastic lined, sealed, and resealable. The front label doesn’t have too much information, but the back is quite informative. There’s some tasting notes, preparation instructions, and the ingredient list of one.

The aroma of Hojicha Gold Roast is nutty and sweet, you can definitely tell it’s a roasted tea because of the general smokiness to it. It’s pleasant though, because it’s not overwhelming smokey and reminding me of a camp fire. Hojicha Gold Roast consists only of roasted green tea. From the product page, I found out that the tea was harvested in May in Kyoto, Japan and produced from a roasted sencha. It clearly pays to check out the product page for more information!

Preparation

Hojicha Co. recommends steeping Hojicha Gold Roast in 90°C (194°F) water for 30 seconds for the initial steep. I followed the steeping instructions and used water that was heated to 195°F and allowed it to cool for a bit as that was the closest temperature on my variable temperature kettle.

First Taste

Hojicha Gold Roast steeps to a light golden orange colour. There was some of the tea that got through my stainless steel infuser – so if that’s something that bugs you when you’re drinking tea, I would recommend steeping Hojicha Gold Roast in a filter bag. The aroma is a mix of nutty and smokiness. I found the tea itself to be sweet with some light floral notes that also had that smokey flavour and nuttiness to it. The green tea is smooth and was easy and pleasant to drink.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Hojicha Gold Roast five times (six steeps total). I found that the colour deepened with the first two resteeps, and gradually lightened after that. The flavour of the tea became less smokey and more nutty and umami, which was a nice touch. The light floral sweetness I found to stay fairly consistent throughout.

My Overall Impression

I loved Hojicha Co.’s Hojicha Gold Roast. This was just a really nice hojicha experience. The flavour profile is complex, and it’s definitely worth resteeping over and over again to get the different flavours as it subtly changes. I found that sweetness was enjoyable, as was the gentle smokiness that wasn’t overwhelming. I don’t think this tea needs any sweetener at all, as it has a nice natural sweetness to it that works really well with the other flavours.

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DavidsTea’s Vanilla Matcha

Vanilla Matcha by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

What’s this? Another matcha post on a Monday? I’m impressing even myself! This week’s #matchamonday review is DavidsTea’s Vanilla Matcha, which is a flavoured matcha drink mix that came in the Matcha Discovery Kit (first discussed in my review of Pumpkin Pie Matcha). In a familiar green-tone foil pouch (it comes sealed, and is resealable!) with the information about the ingredients and steeping instructions on the back.

Vanilla Matcha has a bit of a dull olive-ish sheen to it. The aroma is primarily that of vanilla. The packaging mentions that there is coconut in it somewhere, but I don’t smell anything that reminds me of coconut. Vanilla Matcha consists of: coconut nectar, matcha green tea, and natural vanilla flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends whisking Vanilla Matcha in 85°C (185°F) water. I opted to follow the preparation instructions.

First Taste

Vanilla Matcha whisks to a bit of a dark green. It’s not as bright as I’m used to when it comes to matcha, but nonetheless it has a strong vanilla aroma to it. The taste of the matcha is primarily vanilla and sweet. I don’t really taste coconut still, and the flavour has a bit of grassy quality to it. The tea is was smooth, and the flavour is pleasant. I find that the vanilla and sweetness overpowers the grassy notes from the matcha base.

A Second Cup?

As matcha is a suspension and all of it is drunk on the first go-around, there are no second cups.

My Overall Impression

I thought that DavidsTea’s Vanilla Matcha was just okay. There was just something about it that didn’t speak to me as a personal preference. While I found the sweetness and the vanilla flavour was good, I wasn’t that fond of the grassy qualities in the blend because the vanilla flavour overwhelms the matcha base and it wasn’t the most enjoyable. I can see this blending easily as an iced matcha latte and it did whisk easily, so using a blender bottle would be easy if you were making matcha on the go.

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Tea By C’s Rose Buds

Rose Buds by Tea By C
Herbal Infusion / Straight
$10.00USD for 1oz

Tea By C has provided me with Rose Buds for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Rose Buds came to me in a now-familiar kraft paper pouch from Tea By C. It came with an information card that includes the health benefits, tasting notes, steeping guide, as well as the information about flower anatomy on the back (definitely takes me back to my biology undergrad days!). The tisane itself solely consists of rose buds, which I think is well reflected in the name.

Rose Buds is an herbal tisane, consisting of rose buds from France. It’s naturally caffeine-free, which makes for a nice any-time-of-day drink. The rose buds themselves are lightly pink and pretty delicate looking. The aroma is all roses, which shouldn’t be that big of a surprise.

Preparation

Tea By C recommends steeping Rose Buds in boiling water (100°C/212°F) for 1 to 2 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 90 seconds.

First Taste

Rose Buds steeps to a pale yellow. The aroma is definitely roses throughout. On first taste, I taste both sweetness, and the rose floral notes. It’s not as heavily perfume-like as I had expected, which I think has a lot to do with the steeping time. It has a very soothing aroma to it, which I appreciated when I had it as a post-dinner drink.

A Second Cup?

Tea By C suggests that Rose Buds can been steeped 1 to 2 times. I attempted a second resteep, and opted to steep it for 3 minutes. I found that the flavour was fairly close to the initial steep, but it was just a touch weaker. I would recommend doing at least one more steep with Rose Buds to get all that rose flavour.

My Overall Impression

I loved Tea By C’s Rose Buds. I really enjoyed the overall experience of this tisane – from admiring the dry buds to smelling the steeped tisane to the first taste. The surprise for me was the fact that it didn’t remind me of potpourri when I was drinking it, which is always a potential hazard when it comes to flower-dominate tisanes. I loved that Rose Buds handled being resteeped once and the flavour wasn’t too far off from the initial steep.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.